There are countless sitcoms which have flopped and been forgotten about, but there are others whose failures are so spectacular that people remember them for years. Mostly, this happens when a popular sitcom gets a terrible spinoff, like how people still contrastJoeywith how goodFriendsis.
Other memorable flops include sitcoms that were just too plain weird to establish a big audience, but they certainly left an impression in the time that they were on TV. Shows likeCavemenandSpace Forceare bizarre to look back on, and they’ve gone down in TV history as notorious flops that missed the mark.
Don’t Trust the B— in Apartment 23had a few things working against it, with the name being just one problem. Another issue is thatthe show wasn’t given much of a fighting chance, being dragged around into different time slots during its short run. Despite these challenges,Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23still has its fans.
Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23is one of many sitcoms that were canceled too soon.
Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23is one of manysitcoms that were canceled too soon, although its potential was evident from the very first episode. The show subverts all expectations of its two main characters. What first looks like a story about a good person being corrupted by a bad influence turns into a story about two equally bad people who bring out the worst in each other. It’s a show that has a lot to say about human nature, and it’s still worth watching.
Friendsremains one of the most popular sitcoms ever, butJoeycompletely failed to capitalize on this goodwill. Joey was probably the right choice for a spinoff followingFriends,not that the show particularly needed one, and the premise set up a different kind of story. The positives for Matt LeBlanc’s moment in the sun end here.
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TheJoeyspinoff failedfor many reasons, but one of the most obvious problems was that the show changed the main character too much. InFriends,Joey is known for his loyalty and kindness, so it’s strange to see him acting like a jerk so often in his own spinoff. It’s also unusual that he never even mentions his friends back in New York, spending his time with a less charismatic and less interesting group.
Joanie Loves Chachihas become synonymous with the idea of unnecessary sitcom spinoffs.Its name is often brought up as a cautionary talewhen there are reports of a new spinoff in the works, which is a remarkable legacy for a show that should have been a hit, considering how popularHappy Dayswas.
Joanie Loves Chachitakes two characters who aren’t exactly central to the appeal ofHappy Days,giving them their own platform that also strips away a lot ofHappy Days' other good qualities. It was a success while it aired immediately afterHappy Days,but a new time slot proved that fans didn’t really care, and the show was canceled after its second season.
7The Cleveland Show
The Family Guy Spinoff Was Nowhere Near As Possible
Family Guyis one of thebest animated sitcoms ever, but its spinoff has been described as one of the worst. In retrospect, Cleveland seems like a terrible choice to carry his own spinoff, since his character inFamily Guyis mostly known for being boring and talking slowly. He’s also the token Black character who facilitates some ofFamily Guy’s more risqué humor. When taken out of this context, he’s not very funny at all.
The Cleveland Showlooks like a hollow imitation of other, much funnier animated sitcoms. Of course, the focus on Cleveland’s life as a parent mimicsFamily Guy, The Simpsonsand more, but there are also smaller details like the talking animal friend and the child who’s wise beyond his years. These days,The Cleveland Showis only worth watching to show David Lynch’s recurring role, which is a curio to liven up a dreadful spinoff.
Hoopshas a strong cast, withNew Girl’s Jake Johnson starring as an irresponsible, hot-headed high school basketball coach who frequently pushes his team too far. However,the show is now most notable for how badly it wastes this cast.Johnson and his co-stars are reduced to spouting puerile jokes.
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Hoopsseems like it’s trying to capitalize on a moment 20 or 30 years too late. Its foul-mouthed comedic style is supposed to be shocking, juxtaposed with its colorful cartoon style and its high school setting. In reality, many other animated shows have explored the same idea in much funnier ways, especiallySouth Park.This leavesHoopsas a hollow, pointless sitcom that doesn’t have enough good jokes to sustain its unoriginal conceit.
Tina Fey and Robert Carlock worked together on30 Rock,butMr. Mayorshows that not everything they touch turns to gold. While30 Rockran for seven seasons and went down as a classic,Mr. Mayorwas cut short by NBC a few days before the season 2 finale aired.
Mr. Mayorwas originally meant to be a30 Rockspinoff featuring Jack Donaghy, until Alec Baldwin dropped out of the project.
With sitcom legend Ted Danson in the lead role,Mr. Mayorstarted off strong. Fairly quickly, the show’s ratings fell off a cliff. Over 5 million viewers tuned in to watch the pilot, but the season 2 finale attracted just 1.6 million viewers, showing a precipitous decline for the limp political satire.
John Mulaney has been one of America’s most popular stand-up comedians for a while now, so a self-titled sitcom seemed like a sure-fire winner. While the premise isn’t exactly groundbreaking, clearly imitating shows likeSeinfeld, LouieandNorm,Mulaneystill could have been a funny addition to this niche subgenre of sitcoms about comedians playing fictionalized versions of themselves.
OnceMulaneyaired, the comparisons toSeinfeldstarted to seem like a burden rather than a boost.Many critics laid intoMulaneyas a cheap imitation, trying to evoke the same quick-witted, sardonic style, but missing the mark. As a stand-up, Mulaney’s reputation is unblemished, but his sitcom was a big missed opportunity.
Some commercials become so popular that people want to see more, no matter what product is being sold. This sentiment is what gave rise toCavemen,a sitcom based on a series of GEICO commercials about primitive humans living in the modern world. While this was popular in the form of commercials, the sitcom was panned as one of the worst of all time.
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Cavemenseems like a bad idea in hindsight, but there have been one or two success stories about commercials being turned into movies and TV shows.Ted Lassois the most obvious example, butSpace Jamalso started out as a commercial. Ultimately,Cavemennever developed its core premise enough, unlike these other examples.
That ’90s Showis by no means a terrible sitcom, but it never quite hit the heights ofThat ’70s Show.Although it’s sporadically funny,That ’90s Showstruggles to revive the chemistry of the original show, which wouldn’t be such an issue if it weren’t trying so hard to evoke nostalgia.
One thing that can be said inThat ’90s Show’s favor is that it’s much better thanThat ’80s Show,a kind of spinoff with none of the same characters and a new setting. It seems as though the franchise can be laid to rest now, unlessThat ’00s Showcomes out in the next few years, if only to add another underwhelming spinoff to the ranks.
When Steve Carell teamed up withThe Officecreator Greg Daniels for a new sitcom, many people allowed themselves to get excited, especially because Carell had been doing a lot of work in dramatic roles in the intervening years. Ultimately,Space Forcenever lived up to the hype. The Netflix sitcom was renewed for a second season, but it didn’t get any funnier.
People don’t really think about the United States Space Force much anymore, so the sitcom was never going to last long.
At the time, a topical sitcom about President Trump’s creation of the Space Force had potential, but this idea aged terribly. People don’t really think about the United States Space Force much anymore, so the sitcom was never going to last long. Instead of burning bright for a short time and leaning into political satire,Space Forcebecame a run-of-the-mill workplace sitcom, contrasting the lunar missions with mundane office politics. This didn’t get the best out of Carell, the rest of the cast, or the intriguing premise.
